Top reasons why Indians prefer working in U.S.

Bangalore: The companies in the U.S. cannot ask their potential employees about their ethnicity and it is strictly followed in their work culture. Despite such an imposition, it is known across the world that an impressive number of Indians contribute to the organized sector of the U.S. economy. 34 percent of employees at Microsoft and 36 percent of scientists at NASA are Indians. What makes our capable workforce don roles in the companies abroad?

For many years, working and getting settled abroad used to fetch a feeling of self actualization to an Indian and his family, but is that still the reason which pulls Indians to an unknown land? To figure out the various reasons on why Indians prefer working in a foreign organizational setup, Siliconindia engaged in short interactions with some IT professionals who have experienced both the work cultures. Based on that, certain reasons which make Indians feel comfortable working in the U.S., were figured out.

WORK CULTURE: Most of the Indians who have been exposed to the American work culture, find it difficult to conform to the Indian work culture. Majority of IT professionals feel that the work culture in a multinational company (MNC) is more planned and less ambiguous compared to their Indian contemporaries. The process driven structure, proper delegation of work and a robust infrastructure makes work environment more favorable in other countries. Looking at the resistance of Indian economy towards the global economic downturn, many expatriates looked India as a lucrative option for their career but it seems easier to analyze the broad environment till one gets into the reality of dealing with it.

Many multinational companies prefer India as a destination for maintaining their global operations. This has led to the acceptance of American work culture in many offices but the reforms are not strictly followed by any level of management in an organizational hierarchy. "One will experience a preference over U.S. work culture because of a well established infrastructure, matured planning and process. The work culture in U.S. is absolutely process driven," says Ravi Jagannathan, MD and CEO, 3i Infotech.

LABOR LAWS: Serving a notice period is no doubt a nightmare for almost every IT professional. Employees cannot receive their relieving letter till they serve the notice period of two to three months. Until they have their relieving letter in hand, it becomes difficult for an IT professional to join in other competent organizations. It is seen that in an Indian work environment, the employer is vested with all the rights to decide on the terms and conditions of a job. Contrary to that, the employment law in the U.S. has always been governed by 'at will' employment, where the employment relationship could be abandoned by either party at any point of time, which means that there is no need to serve any kind of notice period.

EMPLOYEES' RIGHTS: This is probably one area where the Indian IT industry is seriously working upon to control the growing rate of attrition. Many popular It companies sanction leaves other than the Sick Leave (SL), Casual Leave (CL) and Earned Leave (EL). There are leaves granted for Family and Illness, personal days, Education Leaves of Absence with Pay, Parental Leave, Short Term Disability, funeral leave and many more. The IT companies in India are focusing to facilitate the IT professionals with all these relaxation provisions so that the employees add more value to their work. It could be expected that in near future, people working in India would have an act on similar lines of the 'American Disability Act, 1990' which prohibits discrimination of any kind to an employee at workplace.

WORKING FROM HOME: Working from home is quite acceptable in the U.S. This saves employees' time, money and keeps their focus on the work intact. In India, the employers are jittery about letting their employees work from home. Though the culture of working from home has picked up in India as well but there are inhibitions related to it, both at the employer's and employee's end. The employer's usually feel that employees would misuse the facility of working from home and on the other hand, the employees find it better working in their office as they want to meet up their colleagues who share a friendly relation with them. "In an Indian work culture, office mates give a feeling of the extension of family for the employees," says Jagannathan. Most of the IT professionals have realized that, in U.S., the employers' have no issues with their employees as long as they meet the deadline of the deliverables.

TIME MANAGEMENT: The U.S. work culture is more focused on maintaining a proper timeline at work place. It is the attitude of employees out there to deliver valuable output on time. Even if they spend less time at their desk, their credibility is not questioned till they deliver the target set for them. "When it comes to the work environment, a U.S. company always maintains a popular thought - the output. If the output is as per expectations, then it doesn't matter whether employees are at their desk for 9 hours or two hours," says an ex-Satyamite, who is currently working with a top telecom service provider in U.S.

PAY SCALE: The most important of all the reasons for which Indians prefer working abroad is 'Money'. The fact is, salary is seen as the biggest motivating factor. One of the major reasons for attrition in IT industry is the pay scale. If an employee feels that his or her salary is not competitive, then the employees tends to look for another job which would give them a hike of 30 to 40 percent. When IT professionals are sent onsite, they realize that the workforce employed in other MNCs (who usually serve at the same capabilities) are paid much better than them. This pesters the Indian IT professionals to switch to other companies and if the job demands them to reside in U.S. they tend to do so.

The difference in global work culture still persists but due to globalization and outsourcing the degree of discrepancies has narrowed down over the years. There have been debates about the Indian IT industry and the industry experts come up with a lot of methods to deal with the issues prevalent in the internal system. The question which still remains unanswered is whether the laws of our land be more befitting to the employees working in various sectors at present or will the $50 billion IT industry structure out special laws and prerogatives for its workforce? If these problems are addressed, will the Indian workforce which contributes substantially to the U.S. economy, prefer to come back to their land?

Post your Comment

1:
If Indians in US think buying Honda car instead of maruty is quality of life ......good for you. Forget job security, racism, family life,happyness....
My request is-
Please don't try buying homes in India and making them expensive for Indians.
We don't need materialistic people like you to come back.
The fact is you never calculated why you were going... you just wanted a next step of success, and now you are trying to justify it with meaningless reasons......

2:
There is a high chance that your daughters will be raped if you land in India . India is a sex starved, savage country and so people who manage to escape from that jungle of baboons and apes will continue staying in US till they are either kicked out or deported. Further the ease and joy of riding Honda/Toyota/Nissan(Desi adored cars) are so much here that back in India once can afford a max Maruti or Ambassador car. In India there is also every chance that you will get slapped or kicked by auto /taxi driver if you try negotiating rates, you have to wash clothes 3 times a day because of dirt and filth and surely purchase a mosquito net or 24X 7 ALL OUT.

US is a place for bright students who excel in their studies and for those exceptionally talented to work. US offers quite diversified opportunities irrespective of academic discipline. For example: In India you cannot do Masters if you have not done bachelors degree in the same subject in most cases in Engineering. Where as in US I found many Mechanical, Civil, Electrical etc. engineering background people excelling in Computer field.
In their eagerness to get recognition socially many parents send their children spending huge money starting fromVISA and fee, maintenance etc., Just look at the students from India who get Assistantship,fee waiver etc., in reputed universities - dismally low. People prefer universities with less reputation in US just to get there. When it comes to getting job there after Studies( Graduate etc.),the chances have declined in recent years.
There are Universities in Germany where PG education is free and one can support himself during the Masters course through Practicum and Thesis period by doing it in Industry. The training in German Universities is more practical and absorption in Germany after studies(for bright students) in jobs is high.
I have seen Masters Graduate Students in some US universities doing their project work in India(mostly purchased).
Here is an interesting analysis on the subject:
Today you would find all the so called bright people from India wanting to go to USA . Why is it so:
1. Everybody is doing it so it would be the right thing to do and you don’t really have to think it over for a while.
2. Parents have enough money so we can go and have fun in america for two whole years .
3. America the dream place. Even if they are not treated well there its a foreign land .
4. Don’t want to live in India coz of many problems here . Would rather serve another nation than try to stay here and make India a better place .
5. The easiest way to get out of India and Indian problems . MS anywhere else would be much expensive and much difficult to get it .
6. The social status you get back at home . In India foreigners are treated as Gods and thus you think a hundred times before returning to India (if you don’t like the foreign land and its treatment ) because back here people think you are a fool to come back .
7. The money you get there . When you convert it into Indian rupees its a great deal but reality check says it is not enough to make a decent living in america but again when they tell people its around 20-30 lakh rupees you feel so good.
8. India allows dual citizenship, so you can be a first citizen of america and a second citizen of India and thus you can say you are connected to India.
People can have more reasons but the sad fact is I have hardly found any people who actually went to america to study,( by precious on July 21, 2006,Random Thoughts).
I have seen and known hundreds of Americans in different fields (in many cases top notches) who encourage other nationals (provided they deserve) and one can climb the ladder through their openness and support.
In Summery my suggestion is FIRST DESERVE AND THEN DESIRE is the mantra for success in USA.

7:
Having worked in the US for quite some time now, I would like to add my own thoughts to the matter. Whites in the US, or for that matter, UK, Australia, Canada or any other white dominated country are the first class citizens. All other races are second class and their say or existence does not matter to anyone. US is a great place to work, but to get work in the first place is tough even if you are from a premier institute in the US or India. Even at work there is racism to some extent in some states and perpetual fear of deportation in case of a job loss. Indians live in perpetual awe, fear and admiration of these first class citizens, their quirks and (even some stupid) ways because this is how they are trained when they land in the US. They are also taught to denigrate themselves and their country sometimes. The immigration system works actively to mitigate the advantages of all the points mentioned above, which is evident from the fact that it takes 10 years for a highly skilled immigrant to get a green card. The problems in India, given these circumstances, are not unsurmountable.

9:
Mr.Pragyan...this is a very nicely briefed article based on hard facts..!
The primary reason why fresher or people with an initial experience in working go to the US,is due to the renumeration and the fascinated bright lights, specially the sparky living with elegance and joy of freedom there.

While the qualified professionals with a average experience will switch to US, as the working culture in US is really systematic and professionally driven at every hierarchy. The work is properly bifurcated and in algorithm. The work is recognized and rewarded too. Indian work place is unorganized in a way, even though it seems to be upgrading. Petty politics, un necessary so called rules for the namesake are the back driving forces. The levels of management don't bother to check the the process flow.

Overall its the standard of living, money factor, welcoming entrepreneur structure, and the working environment are the luring factors.

I agree to you.The employee has to deal with politics along with technical issues.Bosses like to be pamperd by their juniors.Buttering to the bosses.They do not follow the rules and regulations.There are lot more other things that distract the employee from his goal.

11:
I think money is not the only reason, It's purchasing power parity and above all its quality of life which includes getting rid of all problems in India especially Social issues. People in US are much more aware and groomed. In US things are driven by system and in India things are driven by Jogar. US gives opportunity to everyone to grow right from scrach and they are well rewarded too but in India its very difficult to grow from scrach.

I've read all the comments and after this there is one thing to say. Working in US or India it all depends on perception.

About politics in work place, well, it is everywhere, i've heard from my cousins that, even foreign bosses play politics.

Work culture, well, i've been working in India from past 6 years, I never faced anyone tailing me to get things done. As long as i finish things on time no one cares. There are many a times, that I use to come to office by mid-day, finish things and go home by early evening.

I don't deny the advantages of being in US, like, if some one wants to do masters, Phd, it is easy with so many good universities, money, work from home, cost of living etc and there are many more, but this is one side of coin. The otherside, In US you get to do all of your things on your own. You can't hire a maid or caretaker for children unless you are a super boss or something, even if you want to go to movie, you have to plan for that. i never plan for a movie, my parents, in-laws uncles everyone is here, somtimes, even if it is 11 PM and i want to go out, i'll go for a second show in an auto rickshaw, stop by somewhere to have a nice ice cream, which can't be done in US (as far as I know).

I'm not saying that, i'm correct, but it is how, i want to live and everyone has their own perception and I can be wrong too.

If Indians in US think buying Honda car instead of maruty is quality of life ......good for you. Forget job security, racism, family life,happyness....
My request is-
Please don't try buying homes in India and making them expensive for Indians.
We don't need materialistic people like you to come back.
The fact is you never calculated why you were going... you just wanted a next step of success, and now you are trying to justify it with meaningless reasons......

If Indians in US think buying Honda car instead of maruty is quality of life ......good for you. Forget job security, racism, family life,happyness....
My request is-
Please don't try buying homes in India and making them expensive for Indians.
We don't need materialistic people like you to come back.
The fact is you never calculated why you were going... you just wanted a next step of success, and now you are trying to justify it with meaningless reasons......

I'hv read all comments too. You are correct to some extent. It's true that politics is everywhere in the world and no exception for USA too, but the politics in work place in India is too hectic and nasty compare to USA. MNC companies are well versed with proper plan and process and infrastructure and most important thing is less process but are well planned process which gives you a healthy work environment to improve your career and company as well no doubt....

20:
The main reason why Indians prefer to work abroad is due to petty politics played by bosses during appraisal, promotions, lesser opportunities for better jobs (where the same situation exists), rampant corruption & reservation in jobs (if one wants to work in Government organisations). Salary could be the secondary aspect.

22:
Mr JB Padhi has spoken the right words...People here are whining about the fact that its just dollars which matters..Actually dollar does matter initially but when you look at over a period of time its more than that.Indian companies have become global in terms of operations but not mindset and please don't give me those stereotype answers about how outsourcing is a great success..Ask yourself the questions below :
How much successful is innovation and R&D in india ?
With over a million people in IT how good are things like e-governance , internet connectivity doing ?
What are the labor laws to protect people in private sector ? You get paid for 8 hrs , how much do you work , just 8 hrs or more ?
And fundamentally is the Govt doing enough for people ?
From my personal experience even in developed countries like US there is corruption , politics , wall street scams but end of the day it doesn't affect the common man for "decades" as it has in india since independence.
You don't pay money to get your driving license, passport , ration card done in US.
Everyone has equal rights be it a citizen or immigrant , law and order is way better than india.
End of the day we shouldn't make comparisons about which place "you think" is better but live where "you think" you can live comfortably and make the best out of your life and skills.
And to all those people who are behaving like pseudo-patriots , learn to first go and vote during elections irrespective of how good or bad a candidate , this is the 1st duty of a citizen.

23:
It not just money but hate for the Country after passing out from a premieer Institute.
Example, a metallurgical engineer develop special grade of steel and look at the various companies including railways. Finally he was contacted by Japanese embassy. He is working for the past 30 years with Ashahi Steel.
Gold medalist from IIT Kanpur wanted INR 2.5L to set up his own software biz in India. He went from pillar to post and finally gave up at IDBI when he was told "are you an M.Tech? Your project wrong".
He went to the US in 1989 and in one year set up his own company which exported half a million dollar worth of software in the very first 4 months. He has not stepped on Indian soil till now as he had sweared.

25:
I completely agree with the author however it is not restricted to the US but the same kind of environment and work culture can be seen in Australia, France, Germany, New Zealand, UK and Japan.
The employer knows that they have hunted for the employees and should look after them. There is nothing like you have come late, leaving early, feed the boss everyday with work done, fear of increment or even rating/dismissal from work. The work environment is like a family affair. The very first thing one notices is that they don't have to "good morning sir" anybody. Then one realizes that they can just pack up or logoff and go home simple, don't have to tell anybody "I am not feeling well or just want to go shopping". What matters is your output which can be weekly or monthly progress in case of a project. Non project related work is even more fun. After a few days the person doesn't feel like leaving office without his/her friend. To cut short the long story short the employee is god! Of course the other factor is that the Countries are neat, clean and sparsely populated. You don't find x gunning for y for corruption, abc killed, et al in the newspapers.
Two very senior General Manager with work exp in excess of 25 years quit a year ago and joined at Mobily and Batelco at Sr. Technician and Sr. Engineer posts. What was their attraction? Money, both earning tax free INR equivalent of more than 50L with family accomodation and no fear of retirement, etc. Another guy left for Dubai and was on holiday recently with a huge grin on his face. He had been made in charge of cable station within a year. When people can he happy in gulf the developed Countries are far up the ladder.
Just last month one frind of mine immigrated to Australia and is working as head of commmunication of the largest construction company there. In India he was with Reliance and constantly feared many things including "rush hours".

28:
Anyone can give a job security, given that they give you a salary which you are eligible for one month split for about 10 months. That way , within one year, the company will gain what which is needed to retain you for your lifetime.

Open Up

The reason I feel is the standard of living and most importantly the convertion rate which is actually killing the indians who work here. Those with a mediocre job in the US can come here and settle in India making the people around him to look with awe.

29:
In the first instance, I doubt whether well qualified Indians are really crazy to work in USA. Even if it is so, the terms are generally fixed by the individual than by Companies. I know for sure in GCC, the well qualified Indians do take up an assignment if and only if it is offered in their liking conditions, but would compromise much of their freedom while in India.

32:
All the talk about career and employee rights is crap. Indian prefer to work in the US for 4 reasons:
1. It helps them escape all the troubles and tortures of living in India. I mean the traffic, pollution, population, competition for scarce resources, corruption, politics, social attitudes, etc.
2. Replacing the above, you get a fairly standardized quality of life- good housing, good infrastructure, essential support of Indian community, the feeling that you are living in the world's most powerful country, the false sense of security that education standards in the US is great, a feeling that healthcare and doctors are great,etc.
3. Even if you can earn as much in India, you get the false sense of richness that whatever you have is 45 times as much in India. You realize the power and value of it when you go to India for your annual vacation. ( that is also the time when you can understand the difference between 1 and 2 above, right from when you step out of the airport).
4. In almost all communities in India, being in the US is a great social differentiator, not only for those who are in the US but also for the parents and siblings. 'Not being in the US'is soon getting considered to be a stigma in social circles.

Career opportunities in all industries are the best in India
and so are career development activities. Ultimately, career growth depends on the person's ability and ambition. Such people will never consider staying in India or the US for long. They go where the opportunities for achievement are.

I agree with you as most of them would do. As mentioned by others about "money", if thats the reason people can work in aus, uk, dubai, UAE to name a few. Its the democratic freedom in US rather India has in just "words"..

34:
I agree with you sohan. Thing is our mentality only remains confined within short term goals. Money is a necessity but what happiness will that money give if your boss does not respect you and your capability? I think we should accept the fact that the work culture in India has to transform a lot.

35:
I don't know about other people but I know for sure that I am not here for money. I can make the same money in India too, had an offer from Infosys for India Operations but I have chosen to be here because of the reasons depicted above like Work Culture and Employee Rights.

I have worked in India for 7 years, 7 years in South Africa and now in USA since last 1.5 years and I know for sure that Indian working culture is like a torture. In SA and USA employers respect your work, appreciate your work and give you chances to excel. If it wouldn't be that, Indians wouldn't have made it so big.

You can go to India and make the same money and once you make the same money, you would realize the drastic upside down difference in lifestyle. You can save more in India but health conditions, transportation, pollution, etc are still a big problem. Haven't you heard the new that India is facing new epidemic of dangu? People are dying and nothing is happening.

yes sohan, in u.s, are you drawing the same salary in the same position with a white american?
Are your white colleges invite you in any of their family function?
Do you stay in a white oriented colony or only Indian colonies?
Have you ever faced racial discrimination by white childs for your children? or for that matter black afro americans?
Be a second class citizen in U.S may not be favourable for some, they may prefer to be a first clas citizen in India, and may face problems? Don't you feel it is your and my families also who are responsible for the mess created in India? And by the way, a Doctor uses 1 Cr. of Govt.Fund, an Engineer utilises 50 lakhs and above govt.resources, what is your qualification? How much you( and all US praisers) have repayed to your mother country?
You all are nothing but opportunist, like most of the Indians, leave your mother country (and may be your parents)
in the first instance, and talk big. There are so many Indians like me who has worked in USA for a few years (we are highly qualified too), but came back with an interest to do something big in our own country, one day all of you will be back to India, because you may not like your children call their B/f or g/f home when they attend puberty.

Shushanta, even in India people have their own groups and it is not easy to mix with them. you tell me,
- How many of your office colleagues have invited you to their home for general chit-chat?
- How many of your neighbors have send their kids to your home and you sent your kids to their home? How many times and for how long?
- Forget about your friends, How many times you have visited your family if they are living > 200 KM away?

People are busy everywhere and they are unknowingly becoming nuclear (not social anymore) because they have to earn a lot for their family's bright future and live in this competitive world.

Talking about so called MOTHER-LAND seems nice and changing India and its face seems interesting, but tell me, what happened to Anna Hazare? He has become the sign of mockery even though he has good things in his heart and had lots of public support. Now what happened to that amazing movement?

C'mon, be realistic, open your eyes and see the world as it is instead of giving lecture from some history books.

43:
All these reasons are crappy! Most of the companies *want* you to work from home...no one cares whether u r at ur desk...and job security scenario is much better in India...Money is the only negative in my view..

44:
LOL who is this J.A. wrote the article, i think he/she never been to US not worked in USA,
WORK CULTURE ? LABOR LAWS ? EMPLOYEES' RIGHTS ?
there is nothing like these in "the Great Police of the World"(USA).
if u work in India for couple of years u will see a growth in any company in IT, u can become PL, PM, GL etc etc

Everyone one is referring to Money being the biggest reason but compare the cost of living between both countries and working in India seems to be a better deal.

As for the working environment/culture being different in both countries it is due to our own "Desi" behavior. Why do we Desi's act differently when managed by a foreigner. There are no differences in the Work culture when working for a company in India and working in the US with a Desi manager and a team of desi employees.

I agree with Ed Nair that it is to "escape all the troubles and tortures of living in India. I mean the traffic, pollution, population, competition for scarce resources, corruption, politics, social attitudes, etc."

Money matters. But not "Money only" the reason for USA. In that case there are many other countries where you can bag more money specially for the IT people. Like Middle East offers much more savings than a good salary than USA. But imagine why people are still going US. Money might not be the root cause for many of Indians to stay in US, but I feel it is to just escape from the social problems in India. Like daily irritation in the social life like, Politics, pollution, traffic, irregular governance, poverty, lack of basic facilities like many more.

In fact a small road side hotel owner is getting more income than an average Indian-USA employee, so money is not the driving factor for people to go to USA.
Imagine a person is getting the same salary in India and US , but having 24 hours drinking water, 24 electricity, emergency services, easy governance, no waiting in the long queues, healthy food, independent life.. will he want to come back to India, event it is the same or more salary.
Many of our Indian working friends drawing better salaries than us but not these facilities.

"34 percent of employees at Microsoft and 36 percent of scientists at NASA are Indians." This is the hoax email circulating since 1999 and religiously being forwarded by every 'Patriotic' Indian ever since. What is your source of this info ? Indian Scientists at NASA have often wondered where these fellow Indian scientists are deployed. These numbers are baseless as admitted in Indian Parliament by HRD Minister of State in 2008. (Ref: India rising in US: Govt falls victim to net hoax 12 Mar 2008, 0010 hrs IST,Chidanand Rajghatta,TNN)

Thanks, Mukund, for pointing this out. These overblown figures of Indians have been circulating on the internet for years and are simply baseless. Those writing serious articles should not quote such dubious figures.

This apart, has any one noticed that the quality of life in Indian cities and values in public life have sharply deteriorated in the last three decades? The increase in job opportunities and some expansion in amenities just cannot keep up with the rapidly rising population. These factors also lead to many professionals to work and live abroad.